From Jaime Weinman of Maclean’s Magazine:
- Detectives who aren’t that smart
“Everyone in the U.S. these days wants to do a show like The Rockford Files, but Canada got there first with Republic of Doyle. Allan Hawco, star and creator of the CBC’s new comedy-mystery (airing Wednesdays at 9 p.m.), told Maclean’s that he got the idea for the show, about a private investigator in St. John’s, “when I was watching The Rockford Files with my dad. I was thinking it’s time we re-investigate these private detective shows, as long as we don’t take them too seriously.†Rockford’s mix of mystery and self-parody is beloved in the TV business; Kay Reindl wrote at seriocity.blogspot.com that most writers dream of “creating a light detective show.†Now that Doyle is on the air, we’ll find out if viewers like this kind of show as much as writers do.” Read more.
Predictable. Nothing unique about it, save for the Maritime accents. We watched about 20 minutes the other night; the young fellow was getting busy with somebody’s wife … and that was that. Bleh.
yeah. i agree, it was very predictable. i don’t find the lead guy that like-able and i think that’s pretty important when it comes to a show.
Personally, I enjoy the character of Jake Doyle; I think he’s someone that people can really get attached too. I’ve heard more than a couple old-timers complaining about the smut such as when “the young fellow was getting busy with somebody’s wife.” The only real reason I watched the pilot (like thousands of Newfoundlanders, I’m sure) was because it was set right here in St. John’s, but if they moved the show to Saskatoon, I would still tune in but I’m not sure that the rest of Newfoundland would. I don’t think it appeals to a wide enough audience and as much as I would like to see a second season, I do not foresee one.
Well said Matthew